Round 5 of the Victorian Downhill Series saw everyone head up to Mount Baw Baw, after a break that seemed like an eternity. Conditions were near to perfect, especially considering there was an enormous storm that ripped through the Baw Baw area, threatening to close the tourist road with debris. Many arrived early on the Friday evening to celebrate the 21 birthday of Eamonn Flahavin, who tragically passed away in a car crash last year.
When the track opened Saturday there were many more riders than usual for a Saturday practice, many came up early for the party and more wanted to ride in memory of their friend. As riders came through doing runs the early reports were the track may very well be the quickest it had been in a very long time, it had drained off well and was extremely sticky.
The competition was going to be rather tight for this race with a few big names staying south due to Oceaniaa��s next weekend. The biggest name to note was Troy Brosnan, The Team Specialized rider opting to stay in Melbourne over the week and head south after Baw Baw. As Saturday began to roll through people began to realise just who was racing so more and more spectators began to gather, all wanting to watch some of the worlda��s best practice through the rougher top sections.
By the end of Saturday we were all surprised at just how well the track was holding up, though there were plenty of braking bumps forming on the high speed track the general track condition was far better than expected with no real ruts forming and the moisture seemed to be holding the track together over helping it fall apart. This was going to make Sundays racing very interesting!
Sunday morning came around as the wind kicked up, knocking over the Gippsland MTB timing tent at the bottom of the track and bringing with it some extremely cold temperatures. With the clouds moving at a high speed, some threatening clouds came and went without crashing the party but the potential for rain, though not forecast, seemed high.
Qualifying began with one mentionable name absent, Troy Brosnan had picked a virus and wasn’t feeling up to racing at all. Though there was disappointment Troy was ill and unable to ride there was also a spark amongst riders as it seemed like the win was anyonea��s again. With qualifying over there was a small lunch break and racing began.
As riders began coming through the track it appeared the track had become much quicker, but some ruts had begun to form, catching some riders off guard. The most notable rider to take a tumble through the ‘Jeep Track’ section was Jackson Davis, the Specialized Swell rider who wins our vote as the off of the weekend. As you can see below, the faces tell the whole story.
The Elite men starting coming down track and someone shifted the whole race up a gear with the speed going through the roof, the looseness was off the charts! With many riders appearing to just be passengers on the bike through the rough stuff. The times began to tumble and before we knew it only the top 10 were left in the start gate. Rhys Atkinson appears through the crowd and cruises through the rocks with almost effortless speed but loses traction around the following corner and has a minor off continuing Rhys’s run of bad luck racing this year. The next rider down is Liam Panozzo, who also gets extremely loose but holds on and bring it back to set a quick time which sets him up in provisional first. With Dean Lucas and Jack Moir to come, could anyone top Liama��s time? As Dean crosses the finish he clocks a time slower than Liam, this leaves it up to Jack Moir, looking quick all weekend did he have what it takes to top Liama��s time? Jack flew past us on track and as we heard the time over the speaker, Jack had topped Liama��s time and claimed the win at Mount Baw Baw continuing his extremely promising results previous to his time overseas.
JustA�prior to the Elite Men’s presentation there was a special presentation of the ‘E-Man Memorial Trophy’, which also included a ‘scholarship’. Awarded each year to a deserving rider this is designed to help them out with expenses such as travel, accommodation, and racing costs. This year the trophy was awarded to a very deserving rider and also a friend of Eamonn; Dru Berryman. Dru was overcome and unable to speak, but we feel that this award couldn’t go to a more deserving rider, so congratulations Dru.
Sunday saw racing finish with the following results:
Elite Men:
1st Jack Moir
2nd Liam Panozzo
3rd Dean Lucas
4th Joey Vejvoda
5th Alex Swann
Elite Women
1st Sarah Booth
2nd Tegan Malloy
3rd Alyssa Lyons
4th Ellie Wale
5th Liching Li
Under 19 Men
1st Olly Zwar
2nd Aiden Varley
3rd Luke Norris
4th Austen Hawkins
5th William Stajnko
We are off to the Apple Isle next for Oceania’s amongst other articles you will see on the site!
Article and Images: Jason Stevens.